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Please join us at uxdesigntherapy.com … we’ve put together a brand new look and feel that it supports our new ‘sister’ meetup group: SERVICE DESIGN. We will be leaving this site up for a little longer but please connect with us at our new ‘home’.

Nick Steeves and Fraser Milne did a great job at presenting their projects during the April 10th’s ‘Show and Tell’. Nick presented an online campaign introducing Create your own Landing Pages to small businesses while Fraser shared Payfirma’s first payment system prototype.

Kudos to the community that came and contributed insights, suggestions, observations and feedback!

April 10 – Show and Tell

Fraser Milne: April 10 – Show and Tel

In a little while, we’ll be posting thoughts on this experience from both Nick and Fraser as well as others who felt that they benefited from this experience.

Important Update: Note: This event was arranged as per requested as a private event between our group and Whitney. We like the idea of a public broadcast and will consider this for future events. Thank you!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 6:00 PM

Networking will begin at 6pm with audio or video-in with Whitney at 6:30pm

WHO IS IT FOR? Everybody in the design or management fields wondering how to collaborate effectively in this changing digital landscape.

It’s one of the events we’ve been anticipating all year. UX International Coach Whitney Hess is happy to VIRTUALLY join our group ‘huddle’ to share war stories, victories, visions of what UX is and can be, some really *really* good soft skill strategies that will get results in your company as well as some pretty cool shortcuts to help your processes. Gather your questions and come down to join us as Whitney unleashes her ‘secret sauce’!

www.whitneyhess.com – Whitney’s experience in UX has touched upon all fields of design including large-scale group management & organizational behavior, process development, product and service design. Oh… and did I say career development? ;)

* A big thank you to Payfirma’s continued sponsorship*

If you cannot attend or do not reside in the local area and have questions, we will be on GOOGLE HANGOUTS.

Price: $2.00/per person

Gain experience in presenting your work at any stage in a supportive, peer review setting. Presenters will be limited to 3-5. If you wish to present a problem to the group, please register ahead by contacting anyone from the leadership team.

Optional – you may also assign to the audience personas (or other information about your users) to facilitate more accurate critiques and peer review.

Optional – If your work is covered by nda, you may bring forms for members to sign.

What to expect: Presenter will show work and receive feedback.

Networking starts at 6:00pm

Presentation and critiques begin at 6:30pm

Session will end around 8:30pm

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The event will be held at the fabulous Payfirma offices. We are not sure what time the outside doors lock // elevators need the keycard, so try to get there before 6pm. Fraser will hang out in the lobby around 6pm to bring any late comers upstairs.

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This group is for people in all fields — IA, UX, IxD, Product Management, Development, Visual Design, Service Design — creating digital or offline products — an eclectic mix of practitioners and thinkers from a wide range of fields to share stories, provide insights, and suggest new ways of working.

We are a super x-connected group of talented cross-overs!

If you need visuals to help describe your problem, bring your sketchbook, print-out, or your own tablet or laptop.

After some supportive nudging by our co-content creator, Juliana, she suggested I share this post from my blog with you. Enjoy :)
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Jan 23/13

Back in 2011, I attended The Design Thinking UnConference that was held in Vancouver, at the Emily Carr campus on Granville Island. I had been intrigued by the term, Design Thinking, it sounded like something that I did all the time, 24/7, yet it was a terminology that seemed vague to many. The event was a merging of multi-disciplines from various industries, coming together to talk about the methods of thinking about design. What idea or thought solidified in me that was that I was in the right line of work, and it would be more about finding the right organization who valued the more holistic and empathy concerned approach to design. Fast forward to 2012, the term Experience Strategy reaches Vancouver with a solidity. I was excited. My love for new media and tech showed more promise, as focus was put onto the ‘Virtual Experiences’ that users had. I realised then that Experience Strategy and Design Thinking was something that I was passion about, and not necessarily limited to Apparel Products and Visuals, but far more expansive and broad. I realised that I’m a sense maker (an innate need of mine), once I have a sense, then I can analyse to make addition or to simplify to provide the best possible solution. What also is important is to remember that change is constant, so this means being good at adapting as needed.

In all my years of design and developing brand, apparel products and such, both Design Thinking and Experience Strategy has been in the forefront of everything I do. I assumed this was the natural focus of all designers, but apparently not. I’ve seen the difference it makes when companies take heed from empathy thought driven designers and make changes to better the experience on all fronts. One of the companies I worked for, within 1 year of implementing lots of small tweaks and changes based on my observations, suggestions, and acting as the facilitator to integrate cooperation and collaborations, employee team grew from 5 to 17 and gross profit increased by 30%. It was my first time seeing how if a company cared to create a win-win situation, anything felt possible. Employees and employers were more engaged, processes were simplified. Sales reps felt supported and happier as well. The company as a whole worked better as a unit, and thus the product quality got even better, products were meeting delivery deadlines better. The trickle down effect was visible. I had never felt prouder to be part of the team and a key contributor. It’s been a long while since finding a company that embodies the value of Empathy and Engagement, from owners down to the customers. It’s time that designers get reminded of what makes us designers and damn good ones. We are the ones that create, solve, and build. We are also the ones who can set the foundations for something better. I feel it’s our duties to advocate for Experience Design and Design Thinking on all fronts, especially with key stakeholders in the company, as they are the ones who can support to make it happen on the larger scale.

Price: CAD2.00/per person

Currently the topic of much debate, wearable devices represent a new era in our relationship with technology.

We’ve invited two speakers that have launched their own wearable products to share their insights about what to consider when designing a wearable experience.

As mentioned at the last meetup, we are starting to collect a small fee to support upkeep of the group, website costs, and awesome events in the future (we will run it at zero profit). You will need to pay $2 via paypal in order to RSVP (this also prevents no-shows). If you do not have a paypal account, contact someone from the leadership team and we’ll work something out.

** Note: Still trying to determine if we will have access to our new, larger boardroom. If you are on the wait list, stay tuned as I may increase the attendance **

In the interest of education and best practices/design advocacy, UXDesignTherapy fully supports UX-related groups in the city. As some of us are active members of VanUE and the UX Book Club (among others), we are open to sharing knowledge and cross-promoting any and all events.

Designing Accessible User Experiences – In this premiere episode of A Podcast for Everyone, Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery speak with UIE’s Adam Churchill about the book that inspired the podcast, and give a preview of what they will be talking about in upcoming episodes.